Olympic lifting demonstrators show off power and poise

For many people, Olympic weight lifting is reserved for people already in spectacular shape and who are starting out very strong, but Jacob Begin, co-owner of Kanama High Performance North Olympic lifting gym, wants to change people’s perceptions and establish Olympic-style lifting as a gateway to better fitness, health and strength for absolutely everyone.

"The results that people are getting in our gym are ridiculous," he says. "You’ve got people in there who are just changing their lives, whether it’s losing weight, getting in shape, gaining flexibility, overcoming injuries. All of these things are good. This is such a technical sport that your body has to be flowing in such a perfect manner that it teaches people how to move properly. It brings people back to the basics, basically, back to how they moved when they were children."

Begin’s clientele run the gamut from children as young as 7-10 through to adults in their 50s, and events like Sunday afternoon’s weight lifting demonstration, featuring experienced lifters and athletes from the Pembroke branch’s Toronto main club, Kanama High Performance, are designed to show people just what’s possible with the right training.

One of the demonstrators at Sunday’s event was Nashville Predators winger Richard Clune, and before the event was even over, Begin had already heard people were inspired by the show.

"A lot of the feedback we’ve gotten so far from people is that it really gets them driven to come back to the gym," he says.

The demonstration took place at Crossfit Poise, directly above his gym in what many already know as something of a fitness hub on Forest Lea Road. The complex also contains the Heels Over Head Xperience gymnastics club, and the three establishments work together very well, according to Begin.

"We’re trying to establish this core fitness community," he explains, "where you can pretty much do anything. Drop your kids off at gymnastics, come in and lift. Drop your kids off at gymnastics, come in and do crossfit. We’re pretty tight here and it’s kind of nice."

While the demonstration, which was also serving as training for the team’s upcoming competition at Blue Mountain, featured athletes lifting upwards of 150 kilograms over their heads, Begin stresses that this is a sport where people can start as absolute beginners without worry.

"The biggest thing you hear," he says, "is ‘I need to get in shape before I go to the gym,’ but what we’re working with, that’s not true at all. This is how you get back into shape. When you go to those gyms that just have the machines, what it is is isolation strength, and it doesn’t allow your body to move through full ranges of motion, and the goal to starting anything back up is to move through those ranges of motion."

Along with co-owner Justin Spencer, Begin is conscientious in maintaining an atmosphere that makes everyone feel welcome, to the point where they are quite willing to turn anyone away if they start to threaten that atmosphere.

"The culture and community that we’ve built [at the gym] is that we run people through an interview process. We reserve the right to say yea or nay to them as time goes on so we keep that comfortable atmosphere for everybody. All it takes is that one person to come in that’s cursing and swearing at the bars, and acting like he’s better than everyone else. That’s all it takes to scare away half your clientele. That’s not what we want to establish here. It’s not just for the sport, it’s for everybody."

For more information about Kanama High Performance North, visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KanamaHPNorth.